Tournament procedure

A total of 65 teams entered the tournament. Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which does not conduct a postseason tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 34 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.

Two teams played an opening-round game, popularly called the "play-in game"; the winner of that game advanced to the main draw of the tournament and plays a top seed in one of the regionals. This game has been played at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio since its inception in 2001.

All 64 teams were seeded 1 to 16 within their regionals; the winner of the play-in game automatically received a 16 seed. The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65.

With the game tied 61-61 with under five seconds left, West Virginia's Tyrone Sally blocked Nate Funk's three-point attempt and then dunked off the fast break with 2.9 seconds to play to send the Mountaineers to the second round with an exciting victory.

Patriot League champion Bucknell pulled off the stunner of the tournament, edging Kansas when Chris McNaughton scored on a bank shot with 10.5 seconds left followed by Kansas' Wayne Simien missing an open 15-footer as time expired. This completely unexpected act earned Bucknell University an ESPY award for Greatest Upset.

The Catamounts of Vermont registered a stunning overtime victory over Big East powerhouse Syracuse. Germain Mopa Njila led Vermont with 20 points, and his three-pointer, along with another three-pointer by T. J. Sorrentine, who had 17, 48 seconds later, sealed the victory. Taylor Coppenrath added 16 for Vermont.

The Panthers made a surprise appearance in the Sweet Sixteen just two days after knocking off SEC contender Alabama. Joah Tucker and Ed McCants continued their strong tournament play, scoring 23 and 18, respectively. Adrian Tigert added 16.

Arizona refused to be upset the same way Kentucky was last year against UAB in the second round, coming out strong and opening it up in the second half. Salim Stoudamire scored 20 and Hassan Adams added 16.

West Virginia continued their upset run to the Sweet Sixteen with a double-overtime shootout win, erasing a thirteen-point halftime deficit. Mike Gansey led West Virginia with 29 including 19 in the overtime periods, with Tyrone Sally, the hero of the first-round victory over Creighton, scoring 21, and D'or Fischer scoring 15 off the bench.

Regionals

Midwest Regional

Semifinals

UW‚ÄďMilwaukee, who had knocked off powerhouses Alabama and Boston College in the last week, had their Cinderella run come to an abrupt end against the tournament's top-seeded team. UW‚ÄďMilwaukee stayed with Illinois for most of the first half, only trailing 29-26 with 3:38 to play in the half, but then Illinois reeled off a 7-0 run to push the lead to ten, and UW‚ÄďMilwaukee never recovered, never getting closer than seven points for the rest of the game. Following this impressive run, UW‚ÄďMilwaukee coach Bruce Pearl accepted a job as the head basketball coach at the University of Tennessee.

In the other and more climactic Midwest Regional semifinal, Arizona squeaked by Oklahoma State when Salim Stoudamire canned a jumper with 2.8 seconds remaining. The game had been back-and-forth all night long, with Arizona leading by three at halftime but then letting up, allowing Oklahoma State to take a five-point lead at 72-67 with 4:29 remaining. Arizona and Oklahoma State then traded baskets, and Stoudamire sliced the Oklahoma State lead to 76-75 with 1:58 left on a three-pointer. After Joey Graham put Oklahoma State back up by one with eighteen seconds to play, Stoudamire nailed his game-winner to send Arizona to the Elite Eight.

Final

In one of the most thrilling NCAA basketball games ever, Illinois pulled off an improbable comeback to break the hearts of Wildcats fans everywhere. After a close first half, Arizona came out gunning in the second half, opening up a 75-60 lead with just over four minutes left in the second half. Illinois then closed the half on a 20-5 run to force overtime using a stingy defense, layups, and three-pointers, the last of which by Deron Williams tied the game at 80-80 with 39 seconds in regulation. The run broke down Arizona completely, and Illinois opened up a 90-84 lead in overtime before Arizona scored five straight to cut the lead to one, but Hassan Adams missed a three at the buzzer to give Illinois the win and a berth in the Final Four.

West Regional

Semifinals

Louisville dominated top-seeded Washington, using a big spurt late in the first half and then cruising from there. After an evenly matched sixteen minutes that saw Washington lead 30-29, Louisville went on an 18-5 run to close the first half, with the big shots coming from Francisco Garcia, who nailed two three-pointers during that stretch to extend the lead. Washington tried a second-half comeback, cutting Louisville's lead to 67-61 with 8:41 left, but Louisville had enough to pull away.

Seventh-seeded West Virginia continued to roll onto the Elite Eight, engaging in a close battle with Texas Tech before pulling away in the second half. West Virginia took the lead for good when Kevin Pittsnogle drained a three with 6:14 to play, and held it from there, with Pittsnogle sinking two huge free throws with seventeen seconds left and West Virginia up by two to put the game out of reach.

Final

In another Regional Final overtime game (and a preview of a future Big East rivalry), West Virginia opened up the game at a blistering pace, using five three-pointers to jump out to a 19-5 lead. When Joe Herber made a three, West Virginia had a 32-13 lead with 5:30 to play in the first half. West Virginia led by thirteen at halftime, but Louisville finally went to a zone defense coming out of the half, and West Virginia began to go cold. Louisville cut the lead to three nine minutes into the second half, but Kevin Pittsnogle extended the West Virginia lead to ten with six minutes to play with a three. But West Virginia missed their last four field goals and Louisville tied the game with 38 seconds to play on Larry O'Bannon's layup. Louisville had grabbed the momentum and scored sixteen points in overtime to secure a berth in the Final Four.

East Regional

Semifinals

In a tight Sweet Sixteen contest, the top-seeded Tar Heels barely made it to the Elite Eight. The entire game was officiated closely‚ÄĒthe first television timeout came after Villanova garnered its fifth personal foul, and two controversial fouls on led to the disqualification from the game of North Carolina star Raymond Felton with under five minutes left. Fifth-seeded Villanova stuck with UNC despite falling behind 64-54 with 3:45 left in the game. The Wildcats stormed back to cut the lead to 66-63, and with eleven seconds left Allan Ray drove the lane and was called for a travel. On the ensuing possession, Villanova immediately fouled. Rashad McCants then made a free throw to seal the North Carolina victory.

After upsetting two higher-seeded teams, including the defending national champion, N.C. State took a nine-point halftime lead against sixth-seeded Wisconsin before the Badgers woke up, using a 13-0 second-half run to turn a three-point deficit into a ten-point lead. N.C. State hung in, cutting the Wisconsin lead to 53-49 with 5:03 to play, and then only trailed 59-54 with 1:50 to play, but N.C. State ran out of miracles and energy and their Cinderella run ended, denying them a matchup with their most hated rival for a trip to St. Louis.

Final

The third regional final matched up the top seeded North Carolina Tar Heels and the sixth seeded Badgers from Wisconsin. The Badgers had a relatively easy road to the Elite Eight of the eight teams there ‚ÄĒ they took on an 11-seed, a 14-seed and a 10-seed, avoiding potential games with Kansas and UConn. The Tar Heels started off hot in this one as Sean May and Rashad McCants scored at will. When point guard Raymond Felton garnered his second foul, head coach Roy Williams decided to pull him to prevent further foul trouble. Up 11 at the time, it seemed to be the right move. Wisconsin would prove Williams wrong as they finished the half on an 11-0 run, tying the game at 44 heading into the half. The Tar Heels struggled to start the second half as hot as the first and trailed for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. Sparked by May's 29 points and 11 boards and Felton's clutch free throws, they outlasted the Badgers and won the game by six in regulation.

South Regional

Semifinals

The Spartans of Michigan State continued on to the Elite Eight by outplaying Duke in the second half and breaking a 32-32 halftime tie. Michigan State came out in the second half and secured the momentum in slowly, but surely, pulling away from Duke. The Spartans got out to a nine-point lead, allowed Duke to get within two, but then, scoring their last ten points of the game on free throws, moved on to the Elite Eight.

After playing Kentucky well in the first half, only trailing by five at halftime, Utah ran out of steam. Utah's last chance to win the game came after Andrew Bogut missed a free throw with Utah down 38-35 with 12:17 to play. Kentucky gradually pulled away to meet Michigan State in the Elite Eight.

Final

In this double-overtime, controversial thriller, Kentucky started out well and led Michigan State by four at halftime, but Michigan State caught up in the second half, actually leading 70-62 with 5:43 to play. Kentucky rallied back, however, cutting the lead to one when Kelenna Azubuike drained a three with 1:19 to play. After Patrick Sparks missed the front end of a one-and-one with 41 seconds to play, Michigan State's Shannon Brown appeared to ice the game with two free throws with 20 seconds to play. But with time expiring, Sparks put up a prayer from three, and the ball bounced around the rim four times before falling in. After the referees spent nearly ten minutes reviewing the play, they upheld that Sparks' shot was a three pointer, sending the game into overtime. In the first overtime, neither team relented, and Brown hit a key three-point basket for Michigan State to keep them in the game. Kentucky's Azubuike missed a three as time expired to send the game into double overtime. In the second overtime, Michigan State's mettle finally won the game for them, as they scored 11 of their 13 points from the free throw line to finally seal the game and send them to the Final Four for the fourth time under coach Tom Izzo.

Final Four

National Semifinals

In a packed Edwards Jones Dome, the battle between Chicago Regional Champions Illinois and Albuquerque Regional Champions Louisville took place. Although nearly three fourths of the crowd were Illini fans, the fourth-seeded Louisville Cardinals were not fazed and gave the overall top-seeded Fighting Illini all they could handle, trailing only by three at halftime, but Illinois used an early second-half run to pull away from the Cardinals and earn a bid in the national championship game.

In the battle between Syracuse Regional Champions North Carolina and Austin Regional Champions Michigan State, North Carolina used a 54-point second half to erase a five-point halftime deficit and down the Spartans, who were making their fourth appearance in the Final Four under coach Tom Izzo.

National Championship Game

North Carolina was playing looking for its 4th National Championship while Illinois was playing in its first National Championship. It was a tight contest for much of the first half before an 8-0 run by North Carolina allowed them to take a 35-25. Eventually they would take a 40-27 into halftime. North Carolina increased its lead to 15 at one point in the second half. But Illinois began a furious charge. At one point, they would hit seven consecutive shots from the floor to turn a fifteen point lead back to four. Unfazed, North Carolina would push the lead back up to ten before a 10-0 run by the Illini tied the game at 65-65. Illinois would tie the game at 70-70 on a three by Luther Head. But North Carolina would fight back as freshman Marvin Williams tapped back a Rashad Mccants missed shot to put North Carolina back in front. Illinois would get several cracks to take the lead but were unable to convert. Eventually, Raymond Felton was able to steal the ball from Head forcing Deron Williams to foul. However Felton converted on 1 of 2 free throws giving Illinois one last chance. But Luther Head's three pointer bounced high and out. Eventually it went into the hands of Felton who this time connected on both free throws to give North Carolina a 75-70 victory. For North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, it was his first national championship in three tries(two previous losses with Kansas). Illinois was denied a chance to set the NCAA record for most wins in a season holding at 37. Sean May scored 26 points as he took the MOP of the Final Four.

Bracket

Winners in bold. * next to a score indicates that the game went to overtime; multiple stars indicate multiple overtimes.